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#5 I thought the same dscott, but following a few viewings the vid slowed down for some reason to reveal a flash on this side of the turrent and what appear to reveal the main gun firing. The other possibility could be a premature electrical detonation of the propellant charge, which would be more in line with your thesis. In any event, we know who the luckiest soldier in Syria is. We don't know his name, but we certainly know his MOS.

#11 I thought the same dscott, but following a few viewings the vid slowed down for some reason to reveal a flash on this side of the turrent and what appear to reveal the main gun firing.

View it at 1080p/hi-def format. A lot of details become clearer. It's clear that the video camera operator set up the shot on a tripod just before the attack. The footage is just beautiful. Too bad about the tank crew.

#12 Worst thing you can do with armor is stop and sit without supporting infantry. Second worst thing is park them with the sides exposed in clusters of two or more. Reactive armor is on the front for a reason.

#18 I set the video in HD mode, 1080p, full screen. Then I went to the 5 sec mark on the video. Then rapid double click, got a short advance each double click. The fellow under the tank was moving around a bit before the explosion. Then in the later part of the 5 second time, I saw the antitank round heading in. Then big smoke and boooooosh flame. What a way to die.....

#19 Worst thing you can do with armor is stop and sit without supporting infantry.

A Russian version of CROWS might have helped. But I think there's no substitute for infantry eyes, because of the 360 degree perspective they get. And these tanks had all kinds of buildings in close proximity, including the one from which the video was shot. What the heck were they thinking? Instead of using tanks as mobile artillery to support infantry assaults, they're using them as mobile pill boxes. Unfortunately for these guys, they're nowhere near as survivable as real pill boxes. This was a serious waste of good hardware.

#20 The tank is hit from the rear by an antitank round - coming in horizontally. I think the running man was ejected or climbed out the top. I see him fall on the ground after the turret fireball. His trousers are burnt off him. I don't think he came out the of the front hatch. Could be wrong - maybe he did during all the smoke and ran around the back and fell. He runs around the back in the direction of the incoming fire and then away from it. He is under fire. A round impacts one of the pillars of the building he runs under right at the end of the video. He likely has serious burns. May also have a dislocated or broken right arm.